Warriors: Quiet Legends
by TangerineHat
Summary: After the events of the Dark Forest attack, Cinderheart gives birth to Lionblaze's kits several moons later. As four new ThunderClan cats grow up into the world, they must uncover, yet, a new undefined prophecy sent from StartClan: "When the stream turns silver, all hope will vanish..."
1. Prologue

"_It's precious!"_

Lionblaze overheard Leafpool's purr from outside the nursery den. He was growing impatient from ears to tail-tip to see the new kits of ThunderClan. After a few silent moments Leafpool stepped out halfway beneath the threshold and looked at Lionblaze. Her eyes were filled with a warm, delighted emotion.

"Come on in," she whispered to Lionblaze's burning ears. "They've arrived."

Lionblaze dipped his head respectfully and rushed into the nursery den. The warm sunbeam swam its way into the den floor, spilling a warm outline on the back of Cinderheart. Her body was curled and four small figures lay at her stomach. She lifted her head when she heard her mate, and proud father, walk in.

"How are they? Are they healthy kits?" Lionblaze said, her words barely audible under his hard purring.

Cinderheart stretched her neck to brush her muzzle against his cheek. "They're wonderful, Lionblaze," she said, pulling back to sniff her first litter, smiling of approval afterwards.

Leafpool stood somewhere in the corner where Sorreltail was. The den smelt heavily of milk and a strange, warm scent. His heart swelled with unspeakable emotion as he gazed at his beloved newborns. "I've thought of some names," Lionblaze meowed.

Cinderheart looked up at him. "What are they?" she mewed.

Lionblaze studied hard at their appearances before he began naming them, proudly. "Gemkit," he named the smallest kit, a gray one (like Cinderheart). "Auburnkit," he dipped his nose at an auburn kit. "Scorchkit," he twitched his ear at a golden-and-white tabby tom. He took some time to think of a name for the last one, its name coming like strong waves in his mind showing like flashes of lightning in his eyes.

"Well?" Cinderheart mewed.

Suddenly, the whole world screamed to him. He closed his eyes briefly, silently, then opened them again, his amber eyes standing out bright in the moonbeam. The whole world was silent now, waiting for that crackle of sound to snap the silence into two.

"Blazekit," Lionblaze finally mewed.

Cinderheart purred. "That's a perfect name," she agreed.

_Long live Blazekit,_ Lionblaze thought. _Long live the roaring lion that lies within her body. Let her breathe in flames of furious glory._ The words faded like the vanishing of a tidal wave, once strong.

_Let her breathe in flames of furious glory…_


	2. Chapter 1

The newleaf air was warm reassurance and the heavy, delightful smell of prey. There was lots of prey to be caught, especially with the expectance of more warriors for ThunderClan. StarClan had promised them a beautiful day for everyone to relish on. The blue skies were cloudless and showed nothing but eternal peace—well; at least that was what they had, so far.

The sun-high patrol had returned right as the hunting patrol had left, their pelts brushing past each other. Blazekit, a golden tabby she-kit, sat outside the nursery den and watched in awe as the deputy herself took lead of the returning patrol. Squirrelflight had caught Blazekit's eye and gave her a respectful nod before vanishing into leader's den, running up the tumble of rocks.

Blazekit and her littermates were four moons old. It was time that their mother allowed them to leave the nursery den only three fox-lengths. Blazekit purred to herself. I love ThunderClan, she thought. I can never image what the lake would be like without a ThunderClan.

A tiny gray kit trotted up beside Blazekit with a dark tabby she-kit with white patches.

"Hi, sis!" greeted the gray kit.

"Hello, Blazekit," greeted the other one.

Blazekit nodded to her sister, Gemkit, and their new friend, Lilykit. "Good morning," Blazekit mewed. Or at least it looked like morning.

Gemkit crouched down with paws stretched in front of her, tail whisking in the air. "Do you want to meet Auburnkit and Scorchkit in the elders' den?" She offered. "We can listen to Graystripe's stories!"

Blazekit's fur tingled with excitement. Every, day when the hunting patrol leaves, she and her littermates pay Graystripe for a visit in the elders' den. He would tell them intriguing stories from the first time their previous leader, Firestar, first joined ThunderClan to the perilous, final combat of the Dark Forest cats, which were being driven off with by unification of four Clans. She followed after Gemkit's tail and into the elders' den where a large mound of gray fluff sat in the corner. A broad head rose from behind it and green eyes flashed at them, welcomingly.

Auburnkit was seated comfortably beside Scorchkit, his tail around his front paws. "Hey, guys," he mewed a greeting. Scorchkit only looked back at them and nodded briefly. _For a kit, he's acting like a stubborn, old, fat elder, _thought Blazekit. _Well, besides Graystripe, who's beyond awesome?_

Graystripe fully turned around, licking his unkempt shoulder. "I was just performing how that dog reacted when he saw me and Firestar's scary claws." Graystripe stopped grooming and turned around, ducking his head beneath his fluff of a stomach as he laid down.

Blazekit let out a mrrow of laughter. "You look like a gray cushion!' she exclaimed, along with the cheery chuckles of her littermates.

Graystripe remained where he was, only his back was seen. "And as I reared up closer to the dog with unsheathed claws," he stood up in blinding speed and swerved, facing the bewildered kits, "it whelped for StarClan as loud as a passing monster and ran tail-between-legs to its Twolegs. I gave them a menacing glare at them, too, before Firestar and I returned to camp." He ended with a bow as the kits cheered for his story, even though Blazekit and Gemkit had only arrived.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Auburnkit, his amber eyes glowing in the dim den.

For the rest of the day, Graystripe told those lots more stories like the time their old ThunderClan camp caught on fire and they had to stay in RiverClan camp for a short time. Blazekit admired on how much the old tom remembered the past so well. A thought appeared into her mind like a passing minnow, swift and quiet. She wondered if Graystripe mourned for his kithood friend every day, leaving Purdy to worry for himself in disgruntlement.


	3. Chapter 2

When dusk fell, the sky was auburn red and the trees stood out as black shapes. The stone hollow was quiet. The Clan was either in their dens asleep or in the clearing sharing tongues. The tiny patter of paws filled the quiet hollow as Auburnkit trotted towards Bumblestripe, who was given calm licks on the shoulder by Dovewing. Auburnkit knew that they were just friends but never really understood why these two seemed… closer.

He prodded Bumblestripe's shoulder lightly with his forepaw. Bunblestripe's attention was caught.

"What is it little warrior?" he mewed warmly.

Auburnkit circled around them until he was beside Dovewing. He opened his mouth to speak but his brother came after him with a steady stride. Scorchkit's eyes were hooded and gleamed with weariness under the red evening light. "Go get some rest," Auburnkit suggested.

Scorchkit looked up at the two focused cats, his eyes suddenly round and the sleepiness being replaced with uncovered eagerness. "When are you going to have your kits, now?" he squeaked.

Dovewing shook her head. "No, not at the moment," she purred.

"When are you having them?"

"Maybe in the next amount of months," she meowed. "And by the time they arrive, your littermates will be apprentices."

Auburnkit felt a scuttle of disappointment. He longed for new friends to play with him and his littermates in the nursery den. Lilykit was always attached to Scorchkit as if they've known each other for moons. Furtively, Auburnkit gave his brother a suspicious glance from the corner of his eyes.

Night fell over the hollow and Squirrelflight stood out amongst a group of cats to organize the night patrol. Auburnkit and his littermates were well hidden in the nursery den. Lilykit and Seedkit were guarded in the curve of Cinderheart's belly. Their eyes were rounded with wide-awake sadness. Auburnkit looked over his shoulder at them and felt a shuffle beside him. He caught Scorchkit's golden-and-white tabby pelt walking towards Lilykit and laying down comfortably against her flank. She bobbed her tiny head and closed her eyes softly as she fell asleep, her sister in a slumber soon after. Auburnkit could hear an audible purr from Lilykit.

_I don't get it. Why are they so close now? Scorchkit has _us_, not them._

Auburnkit and Blazekit sat beneath the nursery den threshold and watched as the thorn barrier swallowed the night patrol. Gemkit was absent; she must've been in the medicine cat den with Jayfeather. He could picture the old fuss scorning her to go back to bed.

Blazekit slightly held her head high and blinked at the stars. "I want to be on the night patrol one day," she confessed quietly, the bass in her voice made Auburnkit's heart swell.

"Yeah, me too," mewed Auburnkit. It's dangerous. But I'd do it for my Clan.

It seemed like moons had passed. The moon stood tall in the center of the sky casting dark shadows beneath any moving creature. Auburnkit and Blazekit were now asleep at the nursery den's entrance. Auburnkit was pressed securely against the flank by his older sister. A loud rustle emerged from the thorn barrier. Auburnkit flew open his eyes and warily stood up, watching the camp entrance alarmed. The night patrol broke into the clearing with a strange cat on their tail. The night patrol stopped in the middle of the clearing, flanks panting, rising and falling.

Bramblestar poked his head out of the leader's den and scrambled down the tumble of rocks, Squirrelflight right behind him. The stone hollow was hushed and slowly like the rising sun the Clan gathered beneath the moon.

The stranger was greeted with drowsy, cloudy stares and some were filled with wary hostility. The stranger's white pelt stood magnificently bright beneath the darkness, becoming softened beneath the moonbeam. Auburnkit felt Blazekit begin to stir. She blinked away the drowsiness from her eyes and narrowed them at the newcomer.

"Who's that?" she murmured, followed by a massive yawn.

The newcomer she-cat had a single orange patch on her flank and a strange white strap across her forehead, as if it belonged to polished Twoleg rubbish. It had on a yin-yang symbol and her necklace wore a cross that tangled forebodingly at the end, swinging as she moved. Her orange locks hid half of her face and half of those pretty orange eyes of hers that shined even in the darkest of areas.

Bumblestripe, who was in the night patrol, ran up to Bramblestar. "We found her sniffing some flowers near the training hollow." He reported coldly.

The she-cat spoke, her voice like soft, floating dandelion petals in an ice-cold leaf-bare. "I am so glad to meet you all," she murmured, eyeing each cat one by one slowly. "I am sorry to have feared you."

One voice shrieked above all the murmurs. "Are you working for Sol?"

Another one joined, almost as close as the nursery. "She's not to be trusted!"

"Bring her back at once!"

"Maybe she's not a threat after all, guys…"

Auburnkit felt the warmth of their mother swelling over them. Cinderheart sat close behind them and formed a barrier around her two kits with her tail. She leaned inward and pressed her muzzle to Auburnkit's ear. "Whatever you do, Auburnkit, stay here with your littermates. I'll go see to Lionblaze." Wasn't she supposed to leave the nursery den? In fact, Auburnkit and his littermates were four moons old. He still fed on her milk. He watched his mother teeter away as she stopped by Lionblaze's side, watching the newcomer with curiosity from the Clan.

Bramblestar shouldered his way into the makeshift clearing where the white she-cat stood tall and proud. His eyes hardened. "Who are you?" he meowed.

The newcomer flicked her tail and her eyes narrowed at the leader. "My name's Tawny," she mewed. "And I have a message for you."


End file.
